After spending two very busy but very productive months in my career search process, I am amazed at the evolution I have experienced. I have done several exercises to define my career vision. I have attended many company presentations to learn about companies’ 
culture. I talked to career coaches that helped me build my résumé. I had countless cups of coffee with people in different industries to hear first-hand about them and the company they worked for. It was a very busy two months, but very productive.
The process of self-discovery has enabled me to narrow down my options. One would think that the discovery would almost resemble clairvoyance: the response that I was looking for would emerge clear in my mind. However, reality is nothing close. Self-discovery is actually like excavating a mine. Each day you eliminate a small part of the earth, continuing until you reach the mineral you were looking for. Every step is hard, but in every step you get a little bit closer.
After all the excavation, now I know that I loved my operational past and I loved the project management role. Nonetheless, I also know that I missed having a global view of high-level company problems. I want to have that high level view that I was not reaching in my job. I realized I would definitely enjoy a general management role, but I believe that I would miss the variety that business school gives me every day. I am therefore going to target consulting. I believe the analytical engineer inside of me will pair well with the team leader to eventually become a good consultant.
Once the target is clear, it is time to prepare. HBS does a good job with it, as usual: I already attended two workshops on how to prepare for the interview phase. Case preparation, talk to friends… the race against the clock just started. Applications and interviews are the next stage.
Yolanda Anton-Perez, MBA 2015
